Leaky Plumbing & Winter Living Prep Questions
I figured I would knock out my questions in one topic rather posting multiple threads. So I have a 86 Terry by Fleetwood that I just started living in a couple of months back since my housing plans...
Forum Discussion
Use a siliconized latex caulk in the shower NOT pure silicone.
Use pipe heat tape on all your plumbing pipe. You can buy it in the big box hardware stores. Most of mine are Frost King or Easy Heat brand. Be careful on sizing. For example a "13ft" heat tape has 11'6" of actual heat tape. The missing 1-1/2 foot is electrical connection. Never "spiral wrap" pipe with the heat tape. And you want to use either electrical tape or Gorilla Tape to secure the tape.
Make an insulated water hose or spend the bucks and buy a Pirit heated hose and insulate it the thing. All the Pirits in our park ended up in the dumpsters after a hard freeze last winter. Sorry but I did think it was funny after so many RVers have said that the Pirits are so much better than a homemade heated hose. You need a POTABLE WATER GARDEN HOSE to make a good heated hose. You need it to be only the length needed to go from your RV to the pipe stand.
Hang thick blankets over your doors and windows. Open the cabinet doors where you have water pipes. You may want to add a piece of Reflectix between the back of the cabinets and camper floor to protect the water piping from freezing temps seeping past the measly 2" of insulation in the walls and floor.
Get a second source of heat that does not rely on electricity for the power outage that will happen. Keep a jug of RV anti freeze (buy it NOW before they are gone) to pour down the shower p-trap. Keep a gallon of water in the bathroom for flushing the toilet in case the water freezes.
In other words, treat your camper like a poorly insulated house.
Check out the energy conservation projects on Builditsolar.com as most can be adapted to use in campers.
Use pipe heat tape on all your plumbing pipe. You can buy it in the big box hardware stores. Most of mine are Frost King or Easy Heat brand. Be careful on sizing. For example a "13ft" heat tape has 11'6" of actual heat tape. The missing 1-1/2 foot is electrical connection. Never "spiral wrap" pipe with the heat tape. And you want to use either electrical tape or Gorilla Tape to secure the tape.
Make an insulated water hose or spend the bucks and buy a Pirit heated hose and insulate it the thing. All the Pirits in our park ended up in the dumpsters after a hard freeze last winter. Sorry but I did think it was funny after so many RVers have said that the Pirits are so much better than a homemade heated hose. You need a POTABLE WATER GARDEN HOSE to make a good heated hose. You need it to be only the length needed to go from your RV to the pipe stand.
Hang thick blankets over your doors and windows. Open the cabinet doors where you have water pipes. You may want to add a piece of Reflectix between the back of the cabinets and camper floor to protect the water piping from freezing temps seeping past the measly 2" of insulation in the walls and floor.
Get a second source of heat that does not rely on electricity for the power outage that will happen. Keep a jug of RV anti freeze (buy it NOW before they are gone) to pour down the shower p-trap. Keep a gallon of water in the bathroom for flushing the toilet in case the water freezes.
In other words, treat your camper like a poorly insulated house.
Check out the energy conservation projects on Builditsolar.com as most can be adapted to use in campers.
Oh I found out the hard way with the bathroom part (When I started my new job, I went a month without pay and now its affecting me hard) Luckily my mom had the perfect heater for the black tank. for the heated hose I got a plan to make a homemade heated hose
